Some shapes are iconic. You would recognize them a mile away —The Red Cross, Apple, Google, Coca Cola, Pixar. A simple extendable office lamp or bottles with red lettering are immediately identified because they are a part of our everyday lives. The Chanel perfume bottle is one of those icons. It stands for elegance, simplicity, […]

Some shapes are iconic. You would recognize them a mile away —The Red Cross, Apple, Google, Coca Cola, Pixar. A simple extendable office lamp or bottles with red lettering are immediately identified because they are a part of our everyday lives.

The Chanel perfume bottle is one of those icons. It stands for elegance, simplicity, and grace. In the 1920s, Chanel wanted the design to be simple and a sharp contrast to the elaborate bottles of other popular perfumes. The bottle has been the same since 1924.

It is this bottle that Becky Shander experimented with for her mixed-media canvases. The canvases finished appearance is shabby chic, soft, and understated. Becky Shander shares her secrets for creating these perfume bottles in this article from Somerset Studio Summer 2012. A template provided the basic shape of the bottles, and the texture was accomplished with watercolor paper, wax paper, and rows of stitches. Get the full tutorial by clicking on the page below for your free article download.

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For more inspiring projects like this one, read Somerset Studio, available bimonthly.

Share your ideas for using iconography for artwork in the comments below.